Indent Text in an InDesign CS5 Publication

Indentation moves paragraph text away from the left or right edges of the text frame’s bounding box. You can indent a paragraph using the Paragraph panel.

1Create a text frame on the page and fill it with text.

You can fill the text frame by typing text, copying and pasting text, or inserting placeholder text by choosing Text→Fill with Placeholder Text.

2Make sure that the insertion point is blinking in the text frame in the paragraph you want to change.

You can also use the Selection tool to select the text frame.

To change all paragraphs in a story, click the insertion point in a paragraph and choose Edit→Select All before changing settings.

3Choose Window→Type & Tables→Paragraph to open the Paragraph panel.

The Paragraph panel opens, showing the text frame’s current settings.

4If desired, change the value in the Left Indent text field and press Enter.

A left indent moves the text away from the left edge of the text frame.

The larger the number, the greater the indent. You can specify the unit of measurement as you enter the text by entering in for inches or pt for points, using any form of measurement InDesign supports.

5If desired, change the value in the First Line Indent text field and press Enter.

A first line indent moves the first line of a paragraph away from the left edge of the text frame.

6If desired, change the value in the Right Indent text field and press Enter.

A right indent moves the text away from the right edge of the text frame.